New Retrieval Method To Cut Electricity Costs

September 6, 1985|By Sally Gelston, Staff Writer

LAKE WORTH — Electricity ratepayers of the Lake Worth Utilities system will save an average of $1 a month after a proposed methane retrieval method starts operating next spring, a company official said Thursday.

The systemwide savings will amount to $600,000 to $1 million over the five- to six-year life of the project, said Frederick Pickel, manager of power sales for Pacific Lighting Energy Systems of Commerce, Calif.

The methane will come from the Lantana Landfill, expected to close next year. Nine miles southwest of the Lake Worth Power Plant, the landfill is operated by Palm Beach County Solid Waste Authority.

Methane gas is released as garbage rots in oxygen-free pockets. The gas will be captured by a vent collection system and propelled through an underground pipe to Lake Worth`s power plant, where it will generate 20 percent to 33 percent of the system`s electricity.

Savings will result from the price Lake Worth pays for the methane, indexed to stay 1 percent to 15 percent below the fluctuating price of natural gas, Pickel said.

Originally, the California company intended to extract methane from Lake Worth Landfill, also scheduled to close next year. But test borings revealed a disappointingly low amount of methane, Pickel said.

Lake Worth`s landfill, at the southern end of South E Street, was expected to produce 10 million to 15 million British thermal units of methane an hour, or enough to provide electricity for 1,000 to 1,500 homes for an hour, Pickel said.

But the Lake Worth tests showed a slim 1 million B.t.u.s, he said.

Unless natural gas and oil prices rise dramatically or favorable changes are made in tax laws, the Lake Worth Landfill will not produce enough methane to pay for the costs of operating the collection equipment, Pickel said.

However, another round of tests will be conducted in the fall of 1986 to see whether more methane is emanating from the dump, he said.

In contrast, the Lantana Landfill is producing twice as much methane as expected, Pickel said. About 100 million B.t.u.`s an hour are escaping from the landfill, which represents $7,000 a day in uncollected methane, Pickel said.

In 1986, the company will pay the authority $199,000 in royalties for extracting the methane, he said. The company will pay $261,000 in 1987.

Lake City commissioners said they favored the proposal, so long as some final points can be settled on who would be liable in case of an accident anywhere along the pipeline.

``This is like finding diamonds in your own back yard,`` Commissioner Ron Exline said.